I was originally drawn to this film because it tells the story of James Whale, the director of the original Frankenstein, The Bride Of Frankenstein and The Invisible Man, three of the most stylish, thought provoking, funny and scary movies of the golden age of Hollywood horror. It turned out to be so much more. It does indeed involve the great films he made, but in a very surprising fashion. By the end of the film we have a much better understanding of the enduring characters Whale created in those films, because it is clear that they represent facets of Whale’s own life. Set in 1956, it is fifteen years since Whale’s last film and he is living as a recluse with only his fundamentalist maid -wonderfully played by Lynn Redgrave - for company. He is slowly recovering from a stroke and finding that he is losing his physical and mental stamina. He is alone with his own past. Whale is played by one of the greatest actors of his generation - Ian McKellen, who gives a complex and ultimately heartbreaking performance. James Whale came from a working class English home where a sensitive, effeminate boy was not understood or appreciated. He had harrowing experiences in the trenches of World War I and made it home to establish himself as an actor and director. He came to Hollywood and made his name with his horror classics. He lived an openly gay lifestyle at a time when that could end a career. He left his career not because of scandal, but because he felt that he couldn’t recognize his artistic vision. He was an idealist, an eccentric and unquestionably a great filmmaker. He died under somewhat mysterious circumstances, drowning in his own pool.
Gods And Monsters is about the fictional friendship that the elderly and failing Whale has with his gardener, a dopey, straight hunk portrayed with physical and emotional accuracy by Brendan Fraser. Their relationship begins as an uncomfortable flirtation, but evolves into a complex exploration of both men’s weaknesses and fears. Whale is dying, but not that quickly, and the worst effect is that he is losing his mind, falling into trances where he relives the important moments of his life. There are lots of gossipy details about people like George Cukor, Elsa Lancaster, Boris Karloff, Princess Margaret, and the making of his movies (with a gorgeous full-scale recreation of Dr. Frankenstein’s Laboratory) but Whale was a far more complex man, and his story ultimately covers issues of class, war, memory, remorse, guilt, loyalty and loss. Fraser on the other hand plays an aimless ex-marine, a nice guy, popular with the ladies, but his life is going absolutely nowhere. As he gets to know Whale, he becomes fascinated with this highly artistic, strange man. The sexual tension between the two gives way to a deepening friendship. Through our understanding of Whale and his needs we see that Fraser is playing a role in Whale’s life not unlike the role Karloff played in Frankenstein. It would be a spoiler to explain the ending, but Gods And Monsters is a poignant and thought-provoking film that satisfies as a Hollywood memoir but is actually a far more compelling and satisfying narrative that ultimately dissects the difference between sex and love.
After watching Gods And Monsters, it is impossible to not want to revisit Frankenstein and The Bride Of Frankenstein. The real Whale made unforgettable movies with a visual flair that is still unique in movieland. Frankenstein is moody; filled with shadows and dread and what is still considered a remarkable make-up job and performance by Boris Karloff. To this day, I find it terrifying. The Bride Of Frankenstein has many of the same qualities, but adds a delicious campy quality full of in-jokes and sexual innuendo. They are unlike anything else, and offer the repeat viewer a never-ending kaleidoscope of imagery and meaning. I never tire of these films.
-Paul Epstein
2 comments:
I feel that Whale understood Shelley's writing on a personal level. Shelley created what she called "Adam" but the rest of the world called a monster. Whale had a need to bring his own "Adam" back to life also, in the only way he knew how. In doing so he mocked the world which deemed him and those he loved "monsters". Without knowing the back story of why he choose to adapt Frankenstein, the true brilliance of his films goes sadly, unnoticed.
Perhaps this was Whale's biggest joke on the ingorant masses, only to be understood, like he did with Shelley, by those who have suffered persecution and ridicule.
I feel that Whale understood Shelley's writing on a personal level. Shelley created what she called "Adam" but the rest of the world called a monster. Whale had a need to bring his own "Adam" back to life also, in the only way he knew how. In doing so he mocked the world which deemed him and those he loved "monsters". Without knowing the back story of why he choose to adapt Frankenstein, the true brilliance of his films goes sadly, unnoticed.
Perhaps this was Whale's biggest joke on the ingorant masses, only to be understood, like he did with Shelley, by those who have suffered persecution and ridicule due to the limited minds of the real "monsters".
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